I'm Never Riding a Dragon Again!
by makkakaus
Summary: All they wanted to do was get the feather and go to the next country. The only reason that he decided to help them was because it would speed things up. Unfortunately for him, things just got a lot more complicated. Maybe Kuro X OC. Rated T for safety. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter One – Arrival in a Land of Monst

Well, minna, here it is! Rin136's debut story! Hope you like it! Please R&R!

Chapter One – Arrival in a Land of Monsters!

"Puuu!" A certain white manju-like creature with ears and a red stone on its forehead popped seemingly out of no where, opened its mouth wide – and dropped four other people from it (somehow...).

"Ahh!" Syaoran exclaimed.

"Oh my," Fai observed.

"Eeek!" Sakura squealed.

"Dammit, you stupid pork bun! _Why the hell did you drop u__s over a__** canyon!?!?!?**_" Kurogane yelled.

"Mokona Modoki is Mokona! Not pork bun!" Mokona replied calmly, as though the fact that Kurogane called him (or is it her? I couldn't tell. Let's just pretend Mokona is a he, alright?) by the wrong name was of more importance then the fact that they were currently hanging in mid-air over a canyon – and rapidly losing altitude. Kurogane, ever the resourceful warrior, noticed a cliff jutting out from the side of the canyon. Twisting his body around, he grabbed the cliff edge with both hands. _Phew! That was a close one!_ He thought. Just as he was about to pull himself up, he felt something heavy tug on his leg, almost pulling him down.

"..."

"Oh, my, that was a close one," Fai exclaimed, now hanging from one of his legs.

"Dammit, you stupid wizard, let go of my leg!" Kurogane yelled, getting angrier by the second.

"Oh, but if I did, then I would fall down there, and that wouldn't be very pleasant, would it? Oh!" Fai replied, and stretched out a hand just in time to catch Syaoran.

"Gah!" Kurogane yelled, feeling as though his leg was going to fall off any second.

"Ah! Princess!" Syaoran shouted, ever the knight in shining armour, and caught Sakura as she dropped down.

"**...**_**Would you guys let go of my leg?!?!**_" Kurogane shouted, 200% angry.

"I'm sorry, Kurogane-san, but we can't!" Syaoran apologized.

"Has anyone seen Mokona?" Sakura wondered.

"Che, who cares about that stupid manju?" Kurogane retorted.

"Mokona is Mokona! Mokona is not a manju!!" Mokona yelled, popping out of nowhere in front of Kurogane, inches from his face, startling him ("Gahhh!"), and landed on his fingers – hard. That and the sudden close-up of Mokona's face shocked him, and he abruptly let go of the cliff edge.

". . ."

"...Ara, look what you've done now, Kuro-puu." Fai said calmly as they fell down, down, down.

"..._YOU STUPID MANJU!!!!!_" Kurogane screamed, cursing Mokona to hell fifty times over.

"Mokona is not a manju!!"

"Princess! Hold on to me!" Syaoran called, grabbing Sakura's hand and holding on to her.

"Eeek!" Sakura cried.

"Oh? I thing I see a lake!" Fai informed the group happily. "I sure hope you all know how to swim!"

And down, down, down they fell.

_Meanwhile, deep in a cave somewhere..._

_ Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Something that sounded like an alarm sounded in the depths of the dark cave, startling its occupant, a young boy of fifteen with short, dark brown hair, out of la-la land, making him fall headfirst on the ground.

"#$%^&*%^&#$%#^$&*!!!!" he cursed vividly, spitting mud and dirt out of his mouth.

After sitting around for so many hours, he had entered a nice dream about dragons and flying and girls on just to be jolted awake in a very ungraceful fashion to land headfirst onto the muddy, who-knows-what filled, dirt-covered ground.

Just as he thought his day couldn't get worse, the sound of boots slapping the ground and the creaking of the door signalled the arrival of the worst person who could have come in at that moment.

"Tsk tsk, such language! You should go out and sleep with the wolves, Yoru. Have you been slacking off again?" A girl with long brown hair and light purple/red eyes clad in a bold violet shirt with white cuffs, a small half-cloak over it with a red tie, a brownish cloak draped over her shoulders, a pointed hat the same shade as her shirt, a miniskirt, long dull violet stockings, and knee-length sepia boots – the uniform of her occupation – stepped into the small room in the cave.

On her shoulder perched a baby dragon the same colour as her shirt and hat, with her exact eye colour as well. Yoru frowned.

"Shut it, Ran," he sighed. Sure, he had known her since they had been children, but sometimes she could get really annoying.

Mostly because she had become what he had always wanted to become – a Guardian, someone who fought off the monsters that attacked the village, looked after the village, was treated almost like a lord or lady, and even got to raise and bond with abandoned dragon eggs and chicks if he or she found one in the wild.

And the best part? They got to have _two_ dragons that they used in combat in case one was sick or something, they still could go out and fight if needed. Or in case he or she happened to need two dragons or something.

While she was out there, riding dragons and fighting monsters and learning all sorts of things, he was stuck underground in the control rooms, making sure that no one who wasn't allowed didn't enter the village. He was very good at working with machines, so they had dumped him in with the surveillance team. And instead of getting his own majestic dragon to ride on if he wanted to go somewhere, he got to rent a griffon from the stables instead.

He sighed enviously. At the age of fifteen, only her first year of service, Ran had already tamed a rogue juvenile dragon and calmed down a rampaging dragon, none of the two tasks accomplished by luck.

Then, just three weeks ago, she had found a dying mother dragon who had been attacked by a horde of griffons who had felt threatened by her presence and taken action. She allowed Ran to take her egg and save her baby. She had then given Ran the ultimate honour – drinking some the dragon's blood, or, as some people called it, ichor, which gave her super-fast healing capabilities. And to top it off, she could modify codes.

A code is a binary script that runs through every single thing in the world. With the proper training, a person could modify the code, change it, and do all sorts of things with it (took this from Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou – I did not think of it by myself!).

Most people who had talent with codes were recruited to become Mages and Guardians, as their powers were required to keep their dragons under control. As a result, they had their future planned out for them already and were not allowed to have dreams of their own.

But even so, Yoru felt extremely envious of them.

Although he would _never ever_ admit it to Ran, or he would never hear the end of it.

Ran smiled smugly and held a finger out to the baby dragon perched on her shoulder. The dragon, whom she had decided to name him Raak because of his unique, piercing cry that he made when he got excited, nipped it gently and clung onto it with his two front paws, spreading his little wings out for balance.

"Aww, aren't you just the cutest little dragon, yes you are..." Ran cooed affectionately. Yoru rolled his eyes, sighing.

"You're just like Narumi-sensei," he grimaced. Narumi was a goofy and nice teacher in the Guardian Academy, a school that trained children who aspired to become Guardians. He seemed to attract dragons.

Which was just as well, because he absolutely _adored_ dragons. In his spare time, you could see him playing around with his own hatchling that he was raising, cooing and singing to it and so on.

Ran ignored him and leaned over his shoulder, inspecting the screen of the computer that was behind him. Placing her hands on the keyboard, she entered a series of numbers and pressed _Enter_. The screen lit up and showed a view over a lake.

Frowning, Ran typed in another series of numbers and entered it. The screen projected the video and zoomed in on a corner.

Close up, Ran and Yoru saw four strangely dressed people on the shore, all soaking wet. One of them, a tall, lanky guy with black hair and a scowl on his face, was shouting at an equally tall blonde guy who smiled back innocently at him.

Closer up the shore, a shorter brunette, also a guy, was helping a dark blonde girl up and offering her a cloak.

"Huh," Ran said, "looks like we got ourselves some foreigners. Look at their clothes."

"Been a while since the last batch, hm?" Yoru yawned. One of the foreigners, the girl, sneezed, shivering. "Huh. You'd think they jumped off the cliff and fell into the lake or something." Ran grimaced and stood up.

"Guess I should go meet them, see what they're up to. I'll cast a truth spell on them. If they tell the truth, I'll bring them in and present them to Maika-sama and Todou-sama. If they lie, well, Raicoon and Guan-coo will get a little snack."

Yoru shivered at the mention of the village leaders. He had only met them once, during his graduation from the Academy, the school that all the children went to until they were fifteen and then graduated, where he had had to walk up to them and vow his allegiance to the village.

Seeing the cold, distant eyes of Maika-sama and the large, diagonal scar and ran down the side of Todou-sama's expressionless face had scared him witless. Even though Ran said that they were actually very fun and nice people when they weren't on official business, he still preferred to stay away from them.

"Wait, do you mean Raicoon and Guan-coo will _eat_ them?" Yoru asked nervously.

"Mm-hm."

"But aren't the dragons here, like, non-human eaters?"

"The ones bred or hatched here? Yeah. But Raicoon and Guan-coo weren't born here. They were born in the wild. And they are definitely not non-human eaters." Yoru gulped. Great. Now he was even more scared of the two dragons.

Ran gently picked Raak up from her shoulder and plopped him on Yoru's head.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Yoru asked, surprised.

"Well, I can't possibly take him with me out there, can I?" Ran replied. "and I have to go get Raicoon and Guan-coo, and although Guan-coo probably won't mind, Raicoon doesn't like anything that breathes apart from me. He'd scare Raak witless and cause a big commotion in the stables."

Raicoon was the rogue juvenile dragon that she had tamed, and the first dragon she got to keep as her own.

A huge silver-red giant of a dragon, towering twenty five feet high with a colossal fifty feet wingspan, Raicoon had a very bad temper and could only be calmed down by Ran, who had saved his life.

She had found him in a cave, dying of a serious infection from a cut on his neck. She stayed by his side for countless nights, pouring buckets of food, water and medicine that a few brave Guardians had dared to deliver to her down his throat, draining the wound, and had received countless burns from doing that as well.

But something had changed between them during those nights, and a sort of very special bond of trust had formed.

Raicoon was a lot smaller than most guardians dragons, but he was just as strong and even faster and had spikes jutting out everywhere. He was, in essence, a killing machine.

Needless to say, he was a lot deadlier than her other dragon, Guan-coo.

Guan-coo had gotten on the bad side of a rogue mage who had put a spell on him that made him feel indescribable pain. Obviously, after three days and three nights, he was on a full-out rampage in an attempt to stop the pain and was destroying a close by village. So Ran had saddled up Raicoon and managed to stop Guan-coo from trampling the village. Guan-coo had no desire to return to the wild after all that had happened, so he stayed with Ran and became her second dragon.

Guan-coo was a lot smaller than Raicoon, as he had no legs and a pair of angel-like wings on his back He had golden scales on his underside and golden fur covering his back. He was about sixty feet long or so, and his sleek streamlined body, although lacking in force, was very, very fast. Although he was relatively quiet and gentle, he would only listen to Ran and was extremely stubborn - something to do with old age, probably. Try to get him to listen to you if you weren't Ran, and you might as well be talking to a rock. In fact, you'd have better luck with a rock.

Raak make a gurgling noise, like he was going to cry.

"Aww, don't cry little baby, Momma will be right back, okay?" she cooed, tickling his chin. Yoru rolled his eyes. Raak rubbed his muzzle against her finger and nodded. "Be a good boy now, and you two, get along, and no fighting!" she said as she walked out of the room and into the mountain. Raak chirped and licked Yoru's forehead, looking at her with wide, innocent eyes.

The moment Ran was no longer in their sight, Raak promptly brought his (spiked) tail down on the back of Yoru's head. _Pop!_ An anger mark appeared on his forehead.

"Why, you little-" Yoru growled, "I oughta-" Sensing danger, Raak spread his little wings and took flight, finding safety near the ceiling of the room, where it was too high for Yoru to reach him.

Yoru grabbed his chair and stood on it, reaching for the troublesome little creature. Just as he was about to grab him, Raak abruptly flew right into his face, startling him. He step backwards, lost his balance, and fell headfirst into the mud – again.

"&$%#&%^#≈ßƒµ∂ß!!!!!!!!!!" Once again, Yoru let out a long stream of, uh, _creative_ words, forgetting that he was in the presence of a highly intelligent life-form that was young and easily picked up – and remembered – words.

"&$%#&?" Raak repeated, puzzled. His momma had never used those words before. What did they mean? He would ask her later, when she got back.

Yoru, hearing what Raak had picked up from him, froze, then groaned.

"Ran's gonna kill me when she finds out..."

Raak chirped cheerfully and flapped around in the room, repeating the new words he had learned.

_And back to our favourite heroes again..._

"Achoo!" Sakura sneezed, sniffing.

"Bless you!" Mokona jumped up, landing in her arms.

"Fank you," she wheezed.

"Princess, are you alright?" Syaoran asked worriedly. "Do you need another cloak or something?"

"No, I'm-," Sakura began, but was interrupted by a very, _very_ loud roar above them in the distance. The group froze, senses alert.

Kurogane had stopped yelling at Fai and had his hand on his sword, and Syaoran was standing in front of Sakura in a protective stance. Fai had lost his cheerful smile and his eyes were flickering around nervously.

Another roar echoed above the canyon, this time a _lot_ closer. Sakura closed her eyes and hugged Mokona tightly, and Syaoran squeezed her hand comfortingly. A huge gust of wing hit them, nearly knocking them over. Syaoran held on tightly to Sakura.

"Don't worry princess," he reassured her, "I'll protect you. I won't let anything harm you."

"Don't be so sure about that," a girl's voice, loud and clear, sounded behind them. The group turned around rapidly and saw a young girl with murky red eyes and brown hair perched on a large rock jutting out of the side of the canyon. She had some sort of a uniform on.

Syaoran tensed, ready to attack if necessary. Fai put on a cautious smile and Kurogane raised his sword in front of him. The girl smiled mischievously.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warned them, and then pointed to a spot a little farther down the river. Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane kept their eyes on the strange girl in front of them, not falling for the bait she had laid out, but Sakura risked a cautious look...

And promptly screamed, causing the rest of the group to turn. Syaoran gasped, Fai's eyes widened, and Kurogane narrowed his eyes.

In front of them stood the biggest dragon they had every seen (not that they had seen a lot of dragons before, but oh well). A giant of a beast, the silver-red dragon stood over thirty feet high. It had golden scales covering its stomach and the underside of its tail. Its wings looked more like butterfly wings than dragon wings, and it looked like it was wearing a red mask over its eyes. The tips of its fingers and toes were purple with red at the very end.

The sudden movement startled the dragon, and it reared up on its hind legs and roared at them, nearly knocking them over and deafening them for a few moments, its roar still ringing in their ears. Spreading his huge wings out, he took a menacing step towards them.

Slowly, the foursome began to back away up the riverbank, but stopped when the girl whistled.

Another mini-tornado nearly swept them off their feet again as a long, golden dragon with no legs slowly descended down into the canyon and hovered a few feet above the ground, blocking their only escape route.

They were trapped with dragons on both sides.

So, how is it? Tell me!


	2. Chapter Two Dragons, Griffons, Chimeras

So fanfiction's finally working ^o^ I'm not happy with my level of plot-making in this story and I've forgotten all my ideas. And Ran is starting to turn into a Mary-Sue. So imma gonna lay off this story and when I find the inspiration again I'll start rewriting this story. Meanwhile, the pre-typed chapter I had ready.

Chapter Two - Dragons and Griffons and Chimeras, Oh My!

The girl hopped down from the rock and faced the group. "Now," she said, "I'm going to ask you guys some questions, and you're going to answer them. As to why you should answer them, I _think_ you all should have the proper motivation, but it's up to you whether we do this the easy way or the hard way."

With that, she pulled out some sort of device that resembled a cell phone and began punching in a series of codes. When she completed the code, she held the device in front of her and hit the _Enter_ button. A long stream of something that looked like white-blue sparkles flew out of the screen and surrounded the group. Satisfied, she put away the device.

"What the hell is this magic?" Kurogane asked, staring at the sparkles.

"It's pretty!" Mokona chirped, reaching out a paw to touch them, but jerked it back when he got a nasty shock. "Ouch, ouch, owie," he cried. The group instinctively backed away from the sparkles, huddling closer together.

"Why are you doing this?" Syaoran asked. "We don't intend to hurt you are anything!"

The sparkles turned a light shade of green.

"Hmm..." the girl mused. "Alright then, first of all, tell me your names."

"And just why should we?" Kurogane snarled. The red-eyed girl frowned.

"Raicoon," she called out. The green dragon's eyes flickered towards its mistress. Reaching into a bag by her side, she pulled out what looked like a large slab of wood. The dragon arched its head forward eagerly and began pacing on its feet.

"Torch." With a graceful, fluid motion, she tossed the wood into the sky.

The dragon raised its enormous head towards the sky, opened its great muzzle, and blew a long, wide stream of fire so hot that the travellers, although several feet away, could feel the heat. The fire hit the piece of wood head-on, and in a millisecond nothing, not even ashes, remained of the wood.

"_That's_ why," the girl said, "Now answer my questions before I lose my patience, or you'll become snacks for my lovely little darlings here before you know it."

Fai was the first to recover from the shocking display of power.

"But isn't it polite to introduce one's self before asking the name of another's?" Fai asked with a cheeky grin. The girl grinned back.

"Alright," she said. "my name is Ran. These beauties are Raicoon on your left and Guan-coo on your right."

"Pleasure to meet you, my name is very long, so everyone just calls me Fai. These are Syaoran, Sakura and Kuro-puu." Fai introduced.

The sparkles flashed green after each name, even the last one.

"Kuro-puu? What kind of a name is that?" Ran wondered.

"Stupid mage, it's Kurogane!" the black haired warrior holding the sword yelled.

"Kuro-puu!" Mokona jumped up from behind Sakura, startling the rest of the group. "Kuro-puu!" Ran blinked, surprised.

"Ano...What _is_ that...Thing?" she asked hesitantly.

"Mokona Modoki is Mokona! Puu!" Mokona said cheerfully. The sparkles flashed green again. "But you can call me Mokona!"

"Um...Okay?" Ran turned her attention back to the travellers. "What brings you foreigners to our territory? You know the rules of the accords that all the clans signed. State your reason for trespassing, or I will act on behalf of my elders and erase all that may threaten this village."

"Rules? Accords? Clans?" Syaoran looked blankly at her. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"What I'm talking about? Come on, don't act stu-" she began but then stopped when the sparkles glowed green again. "What the..." she wondered, "How could you not know about the accords? They're our _laws_. To maintain peace, every five years all of the village leaders and elders in this country get together and sign official documents that state the laws and rights for each village. Ring a bell?"

The travellers looked at each other, puzzled. Ran frowned.

"Unless...Are you people from a different country?" she asked. It was the only reasonable explanation that she could think of. The group shook their heads.

"Actually," the cheery blonde guy began, "We're from different dimensions." Ran scoffed and started to say that it was impossible, when the sparkles flashed green and she gawked.

"Is my spell malfunctioning or something...?" she wondered.

"Your spell is doing fine," Syaoran assured her. "I know it sounds hard to believe-" "No really?" "-but it's true, we all come from different dimensions. A witch gave us Mokona here, who has the power to travel across dimensions because Fai does not want to return to his home world, Kurogane wants to return to his home world, and Sakura and I are searching for these magic feathers that contain Sakura's memories."

Ran stared at them for a few moments before bursting out laughing and falling to her knees.

"Do you...Have any...Idea...How ridiculous...That sounds?" she managed to say between laughs. Ran slowly stood up, brushing off the dirt and dust that had gotten on her skirt. Looking up at the group, she grinned.

"I mean, you can't possibly expect me to believe-" she began, but was cut off by a loud roar in the distance. Ran paled considerably. "Oh, no..."

"What is it?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"A chimera," Ran whispered.

"Are they very strong?" Syaoran asked.

"No, they're actually quite fragile, but..."

"But?" Fai pressed.

"But what makes them difficult to defeat is the fact that they have three heads, and basically no blind spot." she explained. "Only take on a chimera if you have more than three people, so that it won't be able to keep its eyes on all of you."

"But including us, there are four people who can fight here, and your two dragons. I'm sure that's enough people." Syaoran said.

"It's not that simple," Ran replied. "None of you know how to take on a chimera, know its weaknesses and its strengths. And none of you have dragons. Aerial combat is the best way to take on a chimera, or it gains a huge advantage."

"But you have two dragons, and-" Kurogane was going to say "we're not scared," but Ran interrupted him.

"You don't know how to fly a dragon, how to sit, how to steer. The last thing that I need to be worried about during a fight is whether you've fallen off your dragon or not. And besides, do you really want to ride one of _my_ dragons? They're very well known in the village, and not because of their kind and sweet nature." There was a moment of silence as the travellers thought over the predicament.

"So what are we going to do?" Syaoran asked.

"For now? Run away. Chimeras aren't remotely as fast as dragons – their wings aren't as proportional." Ran said bluntly. "I'm going to trust my spell and believe that you guys won't harm the village. Get onto Guan-coo."

"WHAT?" four humans and a...Thing screamed.

"I said, get onto Guan-coo. Golden dragon. On your right." Ran said impatiently. "Grab onto his spines and fur, but don't tug on his wings or he'll bite." She turned to the long dragon and said "Down, boy." Guan-coo lowered his body, letting his scales float just a few inches off the ground.

"Mount," she said, and he lowered the front part of his body so that it touched the ground. Ran then turned to the stunned travellers.

"Let's move it or lose it, people (yeah I know, this one's overused but it still sounds so cool!)!" she barked. "Smaller people up front, Bigger in the back. You, girl, go first." Sakura tentatively stepped forward, and yelped when Ran grabbed a leg and boosted her up onto the side of the furry dragon.

"Go on, climb up," she said. Sakura slowly managed to hoist herself up onto the dragon. Mokona jumped into her arms.

"You next," Ran said to Syaoran, who nimbly scrambled up. Fai went next, and Kurogane hurried on after him.

"Up and away!" Ran called to Guan-coo, who raised his head and flapped his wings. "Hold on tight!" she called to his passengers, who tightened their death holds on his spines. Doing a one-eighty spin, Guan-coo shot out of the canyon like a missile, then looked back down at his mistress.

"Home!" she yelled, and he turned and shot forward, an arrow from a bow as he sped towards the entrance to the village. Ran then ran over to Raicoon.

"Let's not let them upstage us, hm?" she said as she jumped on with ease, having done so many times before. She whistled twice, short then long, and Raicoon spread his massive wings and raised into the air. Ran then whistled three times, short and sharp, and he took off after Guan-coo.

_Now, let's return to the control room..._

"Hm, looks like she's back – and with company," a pale, blonde haired guy said, looking at the screen. Yoru peeked over his shoulder just in time to see Guan-coo race by with four people on his back, followed closely by Ran on Raicoon's back. "Shame that girl doesn't race that gold dragon – he could have fetched her mountains of gold. Not to mention how famous she'd become." Yoru snorted at that.

"She's already a freaking rich star, Luca," he said matter-of-factly, stroking Raak, who was perched on his shoulder half-asleep. Apparently, they had gotten over their brief quarrel. "She doesn't need any more help. Besides, you know what she says about her 'little darlings.' "They're my friends, not my pets. It's because I think like that that they trust me."" Luca smirked.

"You're right," he said. "She's bearable now, but if she gets any more famous, I don't think I'd be able to handle it." He then stood up. "I guess I should probably go escort them in. The villagers will feel safer that way." Yoru sneered.

"Don't pamper yourself, pretty-boy," he grinned.

"Oh really?" Luca smiled. "Well then, to prove that I'm more than just words, how about we make a bet?" Yoru looked cautiously at Luca. Luca was known to be a trickster and a silver-tongued liar. Chances were, this would play to his advantage.

"That depends on the bet," he replied. Luca grinned.

"I bet you ten galleons (yeah, yeah, I know, Harry Potter, but I was too lazy to come up with a new money system and the old gold coin silver coin system was too over-used, but when I figure one out, I'll update it, 'kay? Till then, sorry :( and please bear with me) that I can convince Ran to come with me to the Spring Ball."

Yoru's eyes widened. Was Luca going mental? Although she was pretty enough, dressed like a girl and had good manners, just like a well -bred lady, Ran hated formal occasions and dances because as a guardian, guys flocked to her by the dozens, hoping to catch her eye. She also happened to loathe dancing. Yoru smiled.

"Oh, you're on, man," he said, bumping fists with Luca. "Good luck - you'll need it."

With that, Luca left, leaving Yoru alone in the surveillance room again. Yoru snickered.

"_Ran_ in a _dress_ going to a _dance_...Hell will freeze over before _that_ happens."

_Back to our heroes, who are currently freaking out on the back of a huge golden dragon..._

"Aiee!" Sakura screamed as Guan-coo did another horizontal one-eighty degrees spin through the air, coming close to dropping his passengers. Ran smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention that Guan-coo is a real show-off – he loves doing tricks.

"Then why the hell did you leave us with this crazy dragon! Why couldn't we have ridden on that other - gahh!" Kurogane started to say, but was cut off as a blast of fire from Raicoon nearly scorched his ear off.

"That's why," Ran said bluntly. "If you still want to ride Raicoon, well, it's your life."

"Raaahhhh!" A shrill cry behind them all made them look back.

"Wha?" Syaoran wondered.

"What the hell?" Kurogane said.

"Ara, ara, looks like we have company," Fai said in his usual carefree way.

"What _are_ those?" Sakura asked.

Behind them, a huge flock of lions with wings and the head of an eagle where soaring through the skies – right at them.

"Oh, shit," Ran cursed. "This is the worst time possible. Well, not really, I mean, there could be other worse scenarios, like-"

"_Why the hell are those – those – those __**monsters**__ chasing after us?_" Kurogane yelled.

"Those are griffons," Ran replied tensely, "the head of an eagle, the back of a lion, and wings. And they are bad news. Very bad news."

"Why?" Syaoran asked. "I mean, they're freaky and all but they don't seam like much compared to a dragon."

"They aren't," Ran said. "At least, they aren't if they're alone." She scanned the horizon, searching for something. "But in a group they are one of the worst monsters out there. They're smaller, and lighter, two things that give them an advantage against dragons. They can weave in and out of tight spaces, and fly faster – for shorter periods of time, though. They have low stamina." She frowned. "That's weird," she remarked.

"What is?" Fai asked.

"There's no reason for them to be attacking us," she explained. "Griffons harbor no natural grudge against any animal and eat only animals from the equine family. They only attack other animals if they are desperately hungry or if their nest is in danger. But I don't see any nests we may have flown too close to, and I'm sure we didn't do anything, so why are they after us?"

At that, Guan-coo gave a small whine, and opened his jaws wide so they could see what was in it. It was a griffon feather.

"Guan-coo, you attacked a griffon?" Ran exclaimed angrily. Guan-coo lowered his head sheepishly. Ran sighed. "Well, now we know why they're after us," she grimaced. "Can any of you do long ranged attacks of any kind?" she asked the travelers hopefully. They all shook their heads. "Can any of you use a bow?" she asked again. Kurogane grunted. "Great!" her face brightened considerably. "Jump onto Raicoon! We're going to distract them."

"_**What?**_" Kurogane shouted, and Ran winced.

"Please," she said, "stop shouting, or I'll be deaf before we get back to the village. Get onto Raicoon." Kurogane grumbled as he stood up precariously on Guan-coo and made a flying jump onto Raicoon, making him arch his back and hiss angrily. "Whoa, boy, it's alright - he may _look_ like a meany ("Told you!" Fai grinned at Kurogane), but he's not all that bad. Saa, iko (Now, let's go!)!"

"Hey, wait, I'm not balanced yet-" Kurogane began, but (obviously) Raicoon didn't pay any attention and promptly rose up at a 45 degree angle and shot up like a tornado. "Gaah! You stupid dragon!" _I'm never riding a dragon again!"_ Fai chuckled.

"You think he'd like dragons better, having that sword Ginryu that he was so unwilling to part with," he remarked.

. . .

"How do you work this thing?" Kurogane grumbled as he hefted the bow Ran had given him into his hand. Bow was a dull term for the contraption of gears and metal in his hand – he had never seen anything more elaborate, not even the spell layouts for the barriers that Tomoyo had once showed him in a (failed) attempt to educate him about magic.

"Put the suction cup onto your forehead," Ran said, doing the same thing. "The whole thing's triggered by your brain waves. Nock in an arrow, focus on the target, pull back the string and let go. The string will move according to the target. Saves aiming time." Kurogane grunted. "Remember, don't kill them! The only point of this is to draw them away from the group."

"Don't get why," kurogane argued. "Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them?" Ran scowled.

"That sort of attitude is what makes animals go extinct," she replied scathingly. "Besides, don't forget that your life is in my hands right now. Al I have to do is tell Raicoon to flip (Not now, Raicoon!) and your life is forfeit."

"Wouldn't you fall too?"

"_I_ happen to be well versed in the magic arts. And Raicoon would catch me."

"Tch."


End file.
